After All
by 1CarinoInu
Summary: It had taken him centuries to find it. Now that he did, he would hold on to it for the rest of his existence. A short look into the life of Sesshomaru and Kagome as mates.


**After All**

Consciousness slowly seeped through as the sounds of cooing and gurgling from the next room invaded the male's sleep-fogged mind. Light amber eyes slowly opened to the early pre-dawn hours in response to the sounds originating from nearby. The fact he recognized the sounds for what they were, and not an attack on his person, slowed his body's response to arise from the comfort of the warm blankets or the soft body that lay nearby.

Before those quiet coos could turn into full out cries, the silver-haired demon sat up and swung his feet over the side of the bed and stood up. He stretched broadly, enjoying the sound and feel of his joints as they retorted from the action. He took a moment to look at the black-haired beauty that was asleep in his bed and his eyes softened. _His mate. _He was glad to see that neither he nor the nearby housemate had awakened her. With stealth he had learned to use from an early age many centuries ago Sesshomaru left the shared bedroom towards the source of the sound.

There within the nearby room, lit only by a single nightlight shaped like a crescent moon, was the source of the soft noises. Beneath the single window sat a sturdy crib that had been crafted by the once-Lord of the Western Lands own hands, with the exception of the store-bought mattress. Within that crib was a perfect copy of its father.

Warm golden eyes crinkled as the small 8-month old let out a happy cry, bouncing in his excitement at seeing his father. Short, silver hair stood at all ends making the boy look like an unruly puppy even without the hanyou ears. It had been a surprise to both Sesshomaru and his mate that the child held demon traits even with his half human blood.

"Good morning my son," Sesshomaru quietly crooned to the child. "You may look like this one but you take after your mother in personality." The boy giggled and let out a small bark and Sesshomaru growled back in response.

The warmth of unconditional love spread through the not-so-stoic demon as he picked up his energetic son from the crib. Sesshomaru held him close to his chest as he took in the youth's scent and once again committing it to memory while patting the child's padded bottom gently. The first-time father kept a gentle but firm grip on his heir while watching out for flailing limbs. The boy tended to be a bit active even before dawn.

Sesshomaru laid his fussing son on the changing table, buckling the squirming bundle in place before he went about changing his diaper. Though Sesshomaru had initially expressed supreme disdain at the idea of taking part in what his mate termed 'diaper duty,' he found himself participating as soon as the infant had been born.

_'Kagome was very persuasive in her means to change this one's mind,'_ he recalled with little mirth. He mentally cringed when she threatened to sleep in the guest room until their son graduated college. He'd relented with supreme reluctance.

Sesshomaru gathered the items needed and placed a new diaper beneath the infant before unbuttoning the bottom of the onesie the boy wore. Removing the tapes that held the old diaper in place, Sesshomaru slowly opened it, only to just barely miss getting sprayed by his son for the umpteenth time.

"Thought you would get me this time, hmm?" Sesshomaru warmly scolded and chuckled, making the boy squeal in delight, his fists and legs kicking in glee. "It is a good thing your mother showed me how to avoid those little showers of yours," he told his son as he went through the rest of the motions.

Diaper secured and onesie snapped back in place, Sesshomaru unbuckled his son from the table and picked him up and into his arms. "Let us find you a bottle before you wake up your mother with all your noise. I am glad that she has weaned you so now that I can allow her to sleep more."

Kagome and Sesshomaru had agreed that she breastfeed their children understanding the nutritional value of mother's milk. However, the down side had been that it kept her from getting a decent night sleep. It had also afforded her mate a lovely view of her milk-filled breasts from time-to-time when she fed their son. Kagome had called him a closet pervert when Sesshomaru had voiced that fact, but she smiled lovingly at him.

Sesshomaru left his son's bedroom and walked down the hall towards the living area that led to the kitchen and dining rooms. He opened the refrigerator and removed a new bottle filled with Kagome's breast milk and set it on the counter next to the pan filled with water on the stove and turning the heat on low.

As he waited for the water to boil to warm the milk, Sesshomaru walked into the dining room where there was a large windowed area and a sliding door that led to the rear of the home. The window faced the slowly rising sun, a sight that he and Kagome had watched on many occasions from their back patio.

Sesshomaru began to tell his son little things about his youth, stopping only a moment to turn off the heat under the boiling water and to put the bottle into the water to heat. He continued to regale his son of tales of his past all the while keeping track of the time that the bottle warmed up. When it was time, he removed the bottle from the pan of water and tested the temperature of the milk on the inside of his wrist before offering it to the little one in his arms.

He had been so engrossed in his story that Sesshomaru neglected to sense that he and his son were no longer alone. His mate and wife of 5 years stood just outside of the dining room doorway and was listening to her husband tell their son stories of his childhood. For Kagome, it had been a little eye opening since her fairly private mate hadn't shared near as many of those details of his younger years with her and it warmed her heart that he was able to open up to his own son.

Kagome hadn't minded that he hadn't been very open about his past and she figured that this time with their son allowed him the chance to speak without holding back. Besides, being a demon he had lived through many centuries and Kagome knew she would never hear about all that he had experienced. She'd seen him during the shard hunt back in the Feudal Era when he was at the height of his desire for world conquest and it was only a miniscule period of time in his life.

"Now let me tell you a little secret about your grandfather the Inu no Taisho..." Sesshomaru continued on.

Kagome could see her mate grinning devilishly in the reflection of the glass as he faced the early morning dusk, a look that not many lived to tell about. Sesshomaru told their son another story as he continued to feed him his bottle, standing before the window overlooking the rear of their property.

Their property. It had been a gift of sorts, presented to her three months after she had told him they were expecting their first child. The home was a modest four bedroom traditional one story that stood on a 10-acre plot of land, far enough outside the city limits to allow wild things (***cough*** demons in true form ***cough***) to run free. Though Sesshomaru told Kagome that they could have lived in his ancestral home, he didn't think she would feel comfortable living so far from her family in the city. Besides, it lacked the comforts of that most homes of the twenty-first century held, like indoor plumbing and central heating.

Needless to say, Kagome fell in love with the old traditional styled home the instant she saw it and they moved in not long after.

Kagome hadn't realized that she had been daydreaming when the sound of a large burp from her son broke her from her thoughts. Amber eyes faced her, identifying the female as 'mother' and he rewarded Kagome with a broad, toothless smile, excitedly flailing his arms and kicking his legs at her appearance across the room.

"Hn?" Sesshomaru turned around only to see his lovely mate standing in the doorway. She was a vision in her baby doll nightie and her hair mussed from sleeping.

"Mate," he called to her as Kagome slowly drifted towards to the two males in her life.

"Hey there, yourself," she replied before meeting Sesshomaru halfway for a kiss. She had a skill for reading between the lines with this male. What he said and actually meant were two entirely different things.

Kagome reluctantly pulled away and looked at little Kazuhiko and smiled at her son's attempts to get her attention. "Well, I see you're up and ready for the day, aren't you, Kazu?" Their son leaned towards his mother and she nimbly relieved him from his father's arms.

Sesshomaru once again looked out towards the sun as it was rising while simultaneously pulling his wife into his arms, her back facing his front as his chin settled on the top of her head. It was times like this that Sesshomaru was grateful he had once again found the little miko from the future. After all, he never would have found the happiness, the peace and contentment that he had now, without her.

oOo

_AN: Something short and sweet, no real plot but just a moment in life._

_I originally wrote this same premise for another fandom and cannibalized it to fit this pairing. I hope it came out alright._


End file.
